Turbine systems are widely utilized in fields such as power generation. By way of example, a conventional gas turbine system generally includes a compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. Further, a conventional gas turbine includes a rotor with various rotor blades mounted to disks in the compressor and turbine sections thereof. Each blade includes an airfoil over which a pressurized working fluid flows.
During operation of a turbine system, the working fluid, such as air, must be supplied to the system. The working fluid may enter the system through a filter house and flow from the filter house through a duct system and through an inlet casing of the turbine system to, e.g., a compressor. The inlet casing of the turbine system may generally include an inner wall and an outer wall, connected by one or more inlet struts. The inner and outer walls may have a tapered cylindrical shape, such that they define a generally annular inlet duct therebetween. The inlet duct may allow the working fluid to flow from e.g., the filter house and duct system therethrough to the compressor of the turbine system.
The inlet of the turbine system may be assembled as an upper half and a lower half. Generally, the upper and lower halves may be bolted together along an outside surface of the outer wall. Additionally, within the inner wall, at the forward end, or upstream end, the upper half of the inlet may be bolted to the lower half of the inlet. Such a configuration can attach the upper and lower halves of the inlet casing without affecting the aerodynamics of the generally annular inlet duct.
However, due to the space constraints within the inner wall, it may be impractical to use bolts and/or tools to attach the upper and lower halves of the inlet towards the aft end, or downstream end. Accordingly, the turbine system may include one or more dowels extending vertically from the bottom half of the inner wall towards the aft end, the dowels being configured to mate with a corresponding aperture in the upper half of the inner wall.
During operation of the turbine system, however, such a configuration may not be able to efficiently transfer forces exerted on the lower half of the inner wall to the upper half of the inner wall. Accordingly, the forces exerted on the lower half of the inner wall may mainly be transferred to the outer wall through the inlet struts in the lower half of the inlet. The inlet struts in the lower half of the inlet thus may need to be designed to accommodate all of such forces.
Therefore, a casing for a turbine system capable of more efficiently sharing applied loads of the turbine system would be beneficial. More particularly, an inlet casing capable of more efficiently sharing applied loads between the upper and lower halves of the inlet casing would be particularly useful.